Music - Tele hunting and Music Man guitars are amazing

I promise I'll do some photography stuff in the near future.

I went to go pickup some strings yesterday for two of my guitars and spent some time trying some of the pretty instruments before taking off. Since I have no real need for my 412 Marshall cab right now, and don't really want a 412 anymore for gigging when/if I get back to it, I decided I'm going to trade it in. I also have a few other items too that I plan on dropping off. I got a sight unseen estimate and started checking some stuff out.

I'm really disappointed in the quality of guitars that have hit the shelves lately. I've been out of the game for 5 years or so, and even then I was kind of choked that I had to look at three Les Pauls before I found one I thought was acceptable enough to spend they money on. Even then that one was missing a pickup height spring. Guitars have gotten a lot more expensive (everything kind of has). I was going to checkout the replacement for the Telecaster "deluxe" model, now called the elite, but they are upto $2500 Canadian, which is almost $1000 more expensive than 5-7 years ago. That's a pretty big jump. Granted, that guitar does play like butter.

Music Man St. Vincent

One of the salespeople recommended I check out the Ernie Ball Music Man guitars as an alternative. They are way out of my price range, but I decided to take a peak anyways. I'm really impressed. Fit and finish across the line was immaculate. Setups and tuning stability was nothing short of perfect.

The first one I picked up was the St. Vincent model. I've been watching a lot of Mary Spender on YouTube lately and she has gotten a hold of a really pretty one. I wasn't sure about it at first but I keep on liking it more and more whenever I look at it, so I had to give it a rip. It's a very light guitar, lighter than expected, and that rosewood neck was an absolute dream to play on. Thin, but not too thin, a really comfortable feel. Plugging into an Orange Rocker 15 combo I found the tone really fat,
but defined through all the pickup selections. It's a very round tone that brings visuals of a woolly mammoth to mind. It's cool! But very different from what I'm looking for tonally. A guitar one should really check out for later tho...

I then picked up the Valentine. This had a thin neck as well, a bit chunkier and rounder than the St. Vincent, but maybe a bit thinner than a 60's neck Gibson. Very comfortable. A bit heavier than the other guitar too, but still very light. Finish was flawless, but boring, actually the whole guitar is kind of boring looking to me. It's kind of like a Les Paul Special that is trying to pretend to be a Telecaster.  So it's got a humbucker in the neck, which is coil tappable, and a slanted pickup in the bridge to try and produce telecaster twang. It also has a built in preamp to give some boost. It was a very versatile guitar to play, but not at all Telecaster like. Too smooth on the top end. Wicked playing guitar tho. One I would love to add to my collection, but at almost $3000 CAD I felt it was overpriced. Sure it plays brilliantly, but it seems like it's an "almost there" guitar.

Music Man Valentine

The Music Man Stingray RS tho, that was a wicked guitar. Still pricey, but cheaper than the first two I tried. The neck is huge, very thick D shape. I'd almost say too thick. I'm no shredder, but I play a lot
of big stretchy chords and it was a little crampy. It sounded and played fantastic tho. Finishes we're cool, modern styling. I really like this guitar! I would like more pickup switching options tho. I think with the neck, push/push boost and push/push coil taps from the Valentine on the RS would be an absolutely brilliant guitar. I would seriously consider this guitar if I started gigging again as those options are easy enough to add. I would even consider parting with my Gretsch Firejet Pro for it if I could get it in a thinner neck.

But, back to Telecasters!

Man do I love Telecasters. I've gone through them like water, but they are always like a nice pair of jeans, a no frills, no gimmicks, nice and basic guitar. But they have gone up in price... I remember when an American Telecaster could be had for around $1200 or so Canadian Dollars for a "standard" model. Deluxe models got close to $2000, but to crest that price point you we're often looking at reissues or custom shop guitars. Now, a Standard starts just under $2000 Canadian. Out of my price point.

There are three major levels of American "standard" telecaster in the lineup, as far as I can tell, right now. The Special for around $1300. The Professional for just under $2000, and the Elite for $2500. I played all three and a mexi.

The special is the entry level American. They used to be HWY1's before my hiatus, but had a matte finish, now glossy. The frets are a bit taller and wider than the others, but the neck familiar. Americna hardware, including a 3 brass saddle bridge, which I like. The texas special pickups are brash sounding, and on the verge of ice pick offensive. The fit and finish of this guitar was...well lacking. You could saw a tree down with the frets poking out of the neck for starters. The action was good, but intonation was way out. Whomever strung it wasn't pay attention and the winds were stacked at least two deep. It wouldn't stay in tune at all. I tried doing some adjustments to it myself and stretched out the strings, but no, it just wasn't cooperating. I know this is easily fixed stuff tho. It wasn't wowing me with it's play-ability, but it felt like the work horse it is.

The Professional ups the game with compensated brass saddles and V-mod pickups. Frets are a bit smaller and more familiar to what I had on telecasters 5-10 years ago. The neck has a similar shape but felt a bit different. It is very comfortable and more inviting to play for sure. Stretchy chords are easy to play and single note runs are effortless. The setup was a lot better, but still had tuning stability issues, so I'm wondering about the standard tuning heads now. I stretched out the strings and it got a bit better, but still kept pulling slightly out of tune. Maybe it's the 9 gauge strings, I'm an 11-50 guy myself, and like a wound third as well.

Fender Telecaster American Professional

The pickups are much calmer than the Special. The neck pickup is a bit rounder, smoother, and generally more flute like in it's tone. Sounds beautiful. Still has some top end definition, but also has that tele spank we have grown to know and love. The bridge pickup gets rid of some of that ice pick cutting, but has that growly clashing twang that just screams telecaster. It's great, it really is.

I then picked up the Elite, the best playing guitar of the bunch. The fit and finish we're nearly flawless, setup needed a bit of adjustment, but it stayed in tune very nice. Very light, felt like air, a guitar you could play all night for sure. The only big play-ability issue I could feel is that the finish on the neck may get sticky once you start sweating... Through the Rocker 15 Combo the tone was warm and full but still retained some Fender charm. Notice I said Fender charm, not Telecaster... that's because it sounded more like a strat to me than a Tele. It could still twang if I messed with the amp EQ, but just hot swapping between the three Tele's it was quite warmer and rounder in it's tone. I actually like it a lot, but admittedly not what I'm looking for. That being said I'm playing these in a vacuum and not on my usual Rockerverb 50 or AC30 rig. maybe the guitar would sound more tele like with my regular setup and EQ's set for my other guitars.

Finally the mexi. action was skirting low and just buzzy, but the neck felt good, nice and chunky. I'd argue it felt better than the American Special I played earlier. The pickups were abrasive and bright, but growly and full as far as single pickups go. You could really work this thing into a solid players guitar on a budget for sure.

Overall I preferred the Professional for sure, which means I'm going to hold out for a used version I think. The pickups are more balanced than the others and retain that telecaster tone, but are easily changed with the standard control layout. The compensated brass bridge is vintage/modern beauty and very comfortable. The neck feels comfortable like and old pair of worn jeans. It's just a really well designed guitar.